Getz Could be Key to Keystone
There is a little bit of instability in the Chicago White Sox infield as the team prepares to head to spring training in advance of the 2009 MLB season. Joe Crede and Orlando Cabrera are gone from the left side of the infield. Veteran infielder Juan Uribe also flew the coop. Incumbent second baseman Alexei Ramirez is expected to slide over to shortstop.
There is a gaping hole at second base and the club has attempted to address that by signing Colorado castoff Jayson Nix and trading for former Atlanta Braves prospect Brent Lillibridge. But the best option may be one that can be found in-house.
Chris Getz is not the most gifted baseball player on the field, but gritty second baseman are back in vogue, thanks to Dustin Pedroia of the Boston Red Sox (2007 AL ROY, 2008 AL MVP). That’s not to say Getz’s ceiling is anywhere near that of Pedroia’s. The 25-year-old was selected in the fourth round of the 2005 draft out of the University of Michigan. He spent four seasons in the minors before getting a taste of Major League Baseball last season. In 10 games, Getz went 2-for-7 (.286).
Getz had his first taste of pro ball in A-ball after being drafted in 2005 and he hit .304/.407/.397 in 214 at-bats. That earned him a promotion to Double-A to begin 2006, which was also his first full minor league season. He struggled with the two-level jump and hit just .256/.326/.321 in 508 at-bats. Getz rebounded the next season, though, and hit .299/.382/.381 in 278 at-bats while repeating the level and also struggling with injuries.
The left-handed batter showed even more improvements in 2008 at Triple-A when he hit .302/.366/.448 with an ISO that almost doubled from 0.83 to 1.46. His rates were solid, including a 9.2 BB% and a 13.1 K%. Getz has also hit southpaws very well in his career, so there is no need to platoon him. He has a career batting average of .302 against left-handers and hit .319 against them in 2008.
Defensively, Getz’s arm is average, as is his range. He made just three errors in 61 games (.990 FP) at second base in Triple-A with a 5.07 RF/g. He also spent time at shortstop, third base and in the outfield at Triple-A, although he is definitely best-suited for second base at the Major League level – if playing every day.
Getz, perhaps in the No.2 hole, could certainly be a nice complement to the White Sox’ traditional plodding sluggers.
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Hey Marc,
Learn how to spell.
‘Flew the coup’
‘There is a gapping hole…’
Guillen said Pierzynski will stay in the two hole.
What about Gordon Beckham? Is he ready yet?
You know, this isn’t the first time this author has thrown up a ridiculous, irrelevant and unspellchecked post. I find it hard to believe he’s a “former newspaper editor,” though I guess the *former* is the important part.
Also: If one more writer remarks about “gritty second basemen” anywhere, at any time and especially with a Pedroia reference lopped on top, I will do my best to ensure that writer will be a *former* writer. Let’s face it: The only 2B in recent memory who wasn’t “gritty” was Alfonso Soriano.
Skoodog: Gordon Beckham just turned 22 and has 58 career at bats in the minor leagues. I would say he needs to stew in the MiLB for at least a year or two before he even gets called up….
he is writing for a site, we get for free and is arguably the best in the business, give him a break, it was a good article. Go to YAHOO and chat there, i look forward, to more of his artciles.
1. ‘Gapping’ and ‘coup’ are English words. Spell check would not catch them.
2. He wasn’t attributing any extra-statistical value to grit, merely acknowledging it.
3. Who cares? Are a few trifling errors that have absolutely no impact on the scope of the article really so egregious that they automatically render everything said thenceforth meritless? Perhaps grammatical perfection isn’t exactly Marc’s highest priority because he understands that in a relatively informal venue where substance trumps style, most of us could not care less about an honest mistake that changes nothing about the content or the quality of the article. Jeremy doesn’t care. Larry doesn’t care. So why do you?
Sorry, Jeremy, I don’t know how that ended up as a response to you. Evidently I clicked Reply mindlessly but it was meant to be a separate post.
I concur with Jeremy Wilson. Your work is appreciated Mr. Hulet.
IMO, and I know a lot about the topic, when someone describes a player as gritty, or scrappy, all that means is they suck but since they play hard they overcome some of those shortcomings. If anything it is an insult to be called scrappy.
Whens the last time someone called Arod, Pujols, Jr, Bonds, Wright… gritty?